This invention relates to radiator sand screen mounting.
Off-road vehicles are often called upon to operate in sandy soil whereupon airborne sand particles are frequently drawn into the engine compartment in response to the air flow generated by the vehicle's engine cooling system. An engine driven fan forces air through a heat exchanger thereby transferring heat energy from the engine coolant fluid to the traversing air. The sand particles within the traversing air stream impact the cooling vanes of the radiator at such an angle as to create an erosive effect on the cooling vanes. It is known that the erosive effect of particulates can be reduced by using a sand screen which directs the fan generated air stream perpendicularly through the radiator vane such that the sand particles do not impact the radiator vanes.
It is often necessary to remove items plugged within the radiator core and sand screen. Conventional designs for mounting the sand screen and the radiator require that the sand screen be completely removed from the vehicle in order to clean the radiator core, and often times require disassembly of the vehicle's hood, grill housing, fan shroud, radiator supports and upper and lower radiator hoses and both engine compartment side shields.